by A. A. Vacco
Elle smiled and shook her head, “Twenty problems and we’re still finding ‘x’? You’d think they’d pick other letters to use just to switch things up.” Elle later regretted that statement at the start of second quarter when she discovered algebra used all sorts of letters.
“Yeah, yeah, but is it hard?”
To Elle it wasn’t. Kat, well, it might as well have been in Mandarin, and she gave up after the fifth problem. Swirling the remainder of her milkshake, Kat said, “So... winter jobs?”
“Yeah?”
“Well if the club isn’t offering anything for us, where else can we go?”
“Uh, here? I think the McDonald’s just before the highway entrance picks up around winter season, then, not much until you hit the uptown area,” said Elle between the final swigs of her shake.
Uptown, or Riverbend, its official name, was actually two towns north of them. It had the grocery store, pharmacy, a few department stores, and some other odds and ends Millerton lacked. It took about fifteen minutes to get there on the highway. Everything else was a five-minute drive around the town, but including the McDonalds, The Sock Hop, Jim’s Bait and Tackle shop, and a Walgreens, there wasn’t much on their side of the train tracks. The Walgreens served as the local ‘last-minute item’ grocery store, but beyond bread, milk, and junk food, Uptown was the place to go.
“Wait, what about that old blue and white building a little past the freeway ramp? It’s a little hidden, maybe you’ve seen it...think we’d find work there?”
Elle pulled out the straw and sucked on the end of it. “You mean the Doll House?”
“Is that what it’s called?” asked Kat. “I haven’t heard of it.”
“Well, the real name is Marionette Mansion, but everyone around here calls it the Doll House. It’s basically a cursed museum full of old dolls on display.”
Kat scoffed. “Yeah, ok, aren’t all mansions with dolls supposed to be haunted?”
Elle shook her head, “No, um, it’s hard to explain. You pretty much have to go there to get it.”
“Try me.”
“It’s known to be haunted, or cursed. Like, you go there and stuff moves. A lot. It’s expected. The dolls’ heads turn when you walk by, mirrors will shift, doors will creak. All the stuff you camp out all night to see maybe a glimpse of at a supposedly haunted house? It happens there all the time.”
Kat stared at her with her mouth open.
Elle pressed on. “People around here don’t go there much. Not because it scares them, but because they’re so used to it always being creepy that it doesn’t have an effect anymore. Only tourists really drop by, or of course, antique enthusiasts. They just keep it open afternoons and evenings anymore.”
“Who’s ‘they’?” Kat completely forgot about her milkshake and her math at this point. The chocolate smear on her left cheek went unnoticed and her crystal blue eyes focused solely on Elle.
“Um, Mr. and Mrs. Valor. It’s on their property. Their actual house is past the freeway as well, but a fair distance from the Marionette Mansion. They inherited and own a lot of farmland. I think the thing was built like, ninety-some years ago. The original owner of the museum collected dolls from all over the country and after several generations, the Valor family decided to make it a historical spot instead of tearing it down. My guess is no one wanted to live there anyways.”
“Probably a safe guess,” murmured Kat. “So, um, can we go see it?”
Elle shrugged. The Doll House was the go-to spot in middle school to try to scare friends, especially around Halloween time. The older kids usually convinced younger kids trying to be cool to come see the house with the moving dolls. By the time everyone passed eighth grade, it lost the thrill factor, even the fun of scaring the younger ones. But Kat just moved here, so her reaction might be one for the books, thought Elle.
“Yeah, sure," said Elle, closing her math book. She tipped her glass back and finished off the shake.
Kat eyes widened. “I didn’t mean now! It’s already dark!”
A familiar glimmer of delight lit Elle’s eyes. “So...you’re saying you’re afraid.”
Kat glared at her and her antagonistic glimmer. “No, stop it, Elle! I know you’ll try to scare me. Hell, I bet the place isn’t even that creepy! You’re probably just trying to pull some big ole prank.”
Although that thought hadn’t yet reached Elle’s mind, it took flight as soon as Kat mentioned it. “Ah, yeah you’re right. It’s all bullcrap. But the mansion is pretty weird. C’mon. It’s well-lit. We can ride our bikes over there and then have Alex pick us up after ten minutes or so.”
Kat sighed. She turned toward the counter and asked Jack if she could call Alex, hoping he wouldn’t be able to pick them up in the next twenty minutes. Unfortunately, not only could Alex pick them, he told Kat, but he could swing by now and bring them there himself, save them the trip. He wanted some fast food, anyways.
“Dammit,” muttered Kat under her breath.
“What’s up?” Elle finished putting her stuff into her backpack. If they took the bus tomorrow, they could just walk to The Sock Hop after practice and pick up their bikes then. She considered this, having overhead Kat’s conversation with Alex.
“Oh, nothing. Alex is about two minutes away.”
Kat turned toward the gravel parking lot. A single street light gave a dim glow to the surrounding area, but beyond that, darkness enveloped the lot with outlines of trees and shrubs. The cold season robbed most of the woods’ leaves, but the density of the trees remained an ‘eek’ factor in Kat’s mind. “Why wouldn’t the damn place be haunted,” she vented to herself.
4
Alex arrived and drove them toward the freeway. Within minutes, the trio pulled up the dirt driveway that led to the mansion. Kat immediately realized Elle hadn’t been entirely truthful about the place being ‘well lit.'
“Ellbea,” she moaned, “It’s so dark! I can’t see my hand in front of my face.”
“Sure ya can! So long as the car stays running with the headlights on,” said Elle.
Kat scanned the part of the driveway she could see courtesy of the headlights. It consisted of loose, brown dirt. Several tire tracks had left their mark, but certainly not enough to suggest much traffic. She glanced up the drive toward the mansion. The place reminded her of a house on a plantation. A white porch wrapped around the front of the house. Four Corinthian pillars guarded the entrance, two on each side of the centrally-placed front door. The wooden porch needed a new coat of paint, weathered from years of Illinois winters and humid summers. The house itself appeared to be made of wood as well. Some bricks fortified the corners of the home, but they, like the porch and rest of the house, were also painted white. A light blue trim lined the edges of the porch steps, the shutters of the windows, and the awning of the roof. “So, the blue and white mansion it is, indeed,” whispered Kat.
Alex stopped the car near the edge of the drive. Kat forgot about pretending to be brave. “Wait, why are you stopping here? Alex? Get us closer, what if we need to run away? Don’t you watch any horror movies?”
With a grin, Alex replied, “Well if I did base my actions off horror movies, I wouldn’t even be here. They always kill the black guy and the frantic white chick first.”
“Ok, not even funny!” she cried.
Rubbing her temples, Elle responded with her usual dry tone. “Hey, if it’s too much, we can turn back. But the further we pull up the drive, the more backward driving we’ll have to do. There’s no turn around. It’s all one-way or reverse.”
“What? What genius decided that was a good idea?” Kat’s voice startled both Alex and Elle with its tenacity.
“Geez, take it easy.” Elle knew Kat’s temper would soon trump her fear, so if she could get Kat pissed enough, Kat would storm into the mansion, no questions asked.
“So some dude in the early 1900’s who couldn’t design a road went and built a mansion and stuffed it full of cursed dolls. Cut him some
slack, he probably passed basic math with flying colors.”
That did it. The car door from the back passenger side opened and slammed shut. Kat marched toward the house, up the rickety wooden porch steps, and stopped at the door. “Ok, jackasses, the door’s locked. You guys even said yourselves, the place is usually locked. How are we supposed to get in?”
Elle and Alex were at the steps by this point, trying to maintain their composure. Alex was all too familiar with Elle’s antics, but never grew tired of them. Both sported smirks and used their hands to hide the lower halves of their faces. Alex turned to Elle. “She doesn’t know?”
Elle shook her head. “No, she does not.”
Looking perplexed, Kat took the bait. “Know what?”
The two locals exchanged glances and Alex said, “Well, it’s haunted, cursed, whatever. So, you know, if you’re meant to go in, the door will just, like, open.”
Grumbling under her breath that this was the dumbest thing she’d ever heard, Kat reached for the handle and gave it a solid shake. Locked. She attempted a shoulder shove to see if the door was ajar. Nothing. With pure annoyance, she turned to the snickering fools behind her and said, “Ok, we just wasted twenty minutes. It’s almost nine, and like it or not, we have school tomorrow, so I’d appreciate you quit...”
A solitary knock on the other side of the wooden door silenced Kat’s rant. The other two crossed their arms and waited. Wide-eyed, Kat stared at the door. A single ‘click’ broke the silence, followed by a creak as the door swung slowly open. Kat expected Elle and Alex to be just as frightened as she was, but the two just shrugged and said, “Ok, let’s go!”
They pushed past her and into the main foyer. Kat, still wrapping her mind around it all, stumbled in after them.
As she glanced around the dark space, she felt a little more at ease. The foyer was redone to accommodate visitors. It was painted bright blue, and a modern counter stood at the front, presumably where greeters sat to give out brochures, payments, or random mansion trivia. An iron Celtic cross-shaped paperweight resting on the counter caught Kat’s eye. The owners maintained the finished wood flooring in that space, too. From what Kat could determine, the museum part of the house took place going to the right and left of the welcome desk. The owners kept the original structure beyond the modern haven.
While Kat eyed her unsettling surroundings, Alex clicked on a flashlight behind her. Kat jumped, and then, laughed. “Right, because why would there be electricity in here?”
“Well, there is,” said Elle, “But it only works when it wants to, so we take on the whole ‘be prepared’ thing, given what time it is.”
Alex headed to the left. He shined the light around the front room that looked like the formal gathering place.
“It’s the parlor," Alex told Kat.
“Yea, yea thanks, I got that from the upholstered chairs, hideous dark blue carpet, even uglier pastel pink curtains. Not to mention the floral wallpaper, I mean, what else could it be?” Kat responded, flinging her arms at each piece she critiqued.
“Just making sure you can keep up," smiled Alex.
Elle trailed behind, taking in everything for what felt like the hundredth time. Since she was so set on freaking Kat out, she took added precautions to hide her own nerves. The house didn’t really scare her, nothing inside would do anything she hadn’t seen before. But she didn’t like Millerton at night. The rustling trees, skittering wildlife, and moans of the wind sent her imagination running wild.
Behind them, the front door closed in a fluid motion. Not a slam; no gust of wind. Just a simple cluh-clunk, and click.
Kat whirled around. “Hey, hey, hey-we’re locked in. Are we locked in? Can we get out?”
To her astonishment, both Alex and Elle just laughed. “Rel-ax," said Elle. “It’s fine. This always happens.”
“The Big Guy just wants to ensure the house is safe, that’s all," Alex said. His careless tone increased Kat’s concern.
“Who the hell is ‘The Big Guy?” she yelled.
“Calm down, whoa whoa, easy!” responded Alex, “Everyone knows the dolls are sacred to whatever holds down the fort here. No one leaves with any piece of this house. I guess it wasn’t always the case, but too much weird shit happened in the past and well, now that’s the rule.”
Kat raised her eyebrows. “Alex, you’re not making any sense.”
“No, no, he is," Elle jumped in, “He’s just not telling it right.”
They proceeded into an informal-looking room while Elle explained, “Since no one really has a solid explanation for why things happen, we’ve collected several ideas over the years, and the ones that made the most sense continue to be told.”
“Just like the Bible," said Alex.
Kat rolled her eyes, “Seriously?”
“The dolls, for instance," persisted Alex, “which you will see in the next room, are without a doubt, cursed to some degree. They all move, their eyes follow you; it’s what they do.”
“I know it sounds crazy,” continued Elle, “But we’ve all seen how this house and these dolls act. And there is definitely something or someone controlling the house. Whatever opened the door is also responsible for taking care of the house.”
“Or protecting it," said Alex.
“Right. And locals call that force, ‘The Big Guy.’ So, whatever happens that isn’t related to the dolls themselves? That’s him," concluded Elle.
Kat drew in a breath. “You both realize how insane this sounds, don’t you?”
Alex passed the couch and rocking chair at the back of the informal room, pushing open two saloon-style doors that led into a narrow hallway. “Why don’t you finish the tour, and you tell us?”
Kat found herself holding her breath as she passed through the swinging doors and into the hallway. When she did, darkness flooded her surroundings as Alex flicked off the flashlight, commenting, “No sense losing power completely and having to fumble our way out. We’d be stuck here all night!”
The trio reached the end of the hall and Kat noticed it opened into three different rooms. The doors had been removed the from the rooms to allow visitors the ease of stepping in and out. Some rooms even connected through former closets that were long since knocked out. The three rooms accessible from the end of the hall each connected to at least one other room further back. The layout enabled visitors to loop around the displays, exiting the way that they entered. As a result, the house seemed like a series of infinity signs.
A sudden clattering sent Elle and Kat jumping back. Elle giggled and shook her head. “Ok, I lied, some things you’ll never get used to.”
Kat was less at ease. “Wh-what was that?” she whispered.
Alex clicked the light back on and illuminated the far right of the room. A pile of string and wooden limbs lay cluttered beneath a shelf that it presumably toppled from. A small wooden face peered at them amidst the tangled mess. Kat held her breath as she studied the figure. Then, to her horror, one of the eyes on the painted face winked. Winked? But, oh no, slowly, as if pulled by an invisible set of hands, the wooden figure slowly rose, until each limb stood as close to anatomically-correct as possible. The strings hung vertically and taut, but how, Kat had no clue. Her heartbeat drummed into her ears. She felt like she would pass out. When Elle grabbed her by the back of the arm, she screamed. Unaffected by Kat’s piercing yell, the doll continued to straighten itself, levitating until the feet were no longer touching the floor. Whatever was controlling the doll lifted it back to its original place on the shelf, and dropped it in a seated position with a ‘click-clack-clack’ sound as the toy resettled.
As horrified as Kat was, she was even more appalled at Alex and Elle’s lack of amazement. The two shrugged nonchalantly and kept walking. They continued through that room, and followed it into a sunroom. However, in addition to a large picture window on the exterior wall, whoever designed it lined the remaining walls with mirrors. “Oh, c’mon! This isn’t even fair,” yelled Kat.
>
“Mirrors, shadows, haunted dolls, it all adds up!” responded Elle, as she turned to face Kat. Her patented smirk appeared as she saw Alex slinking up behind Kat with the flashlight under his chin, causing his face to glow. The middle school scare tactic had been successfully deployed, and the two later mused how Kat remained friends with them after that night.
The mirrored sunroom contained many dolls. Shelves and hutches lined every available space and dolls representing all eras took up residence along them. The sight itself is unsettling, Kat thought. Hundreds of porcelain, wood, or plastic faces with dark eyes following your every move?
Plus, the mirrors added to the eeriness of it all. She might have been able to get past the floating marionette and the accommodating front door, but this room caused Kat to fold.
When Elle told Kat that the dolls and house repeatedly did the same thing, losing its scare value with time, she didn’t clue Kat into the specifics.
As Kat stepped further into the sunroom, all three hundred and some doll heads turned toward her, acknowledging her presence. Their eyes were wide, and the ones capable of blinking exercised this ability. As Kat turned around to bolt, Alex startled her further with his face-illuminating prank. Kat shoved him aside and sprinted through the mirrored space. The dolls continued to watch her, heads turned from her, and some back to Elle and Alex, then back to Kat. It was too much. Whatever sense of security the other two local idiots possessed, Kat lacked, and quite frankly, didn’t crave. She continued her sprint, knocking several dolls over in her wake of panic. She passed the initial marionette, and spotted him just long enough to see that he transitioned from sitting to lying on his side. She stumbled down the dark hallway and toward the saloon style doors. She felt Elle try and grab her shoulder to slow her down, but she shook her hand away and continued running. When she finally reached the front door in the main foyer, she feared it wouldn’t let her out. The Big Guy? Whatever, first thing’s first, she thought.
Kat tried the lock. It clicked open and with an unnecessary shove, Kat tumbled out of the house and onto the porch. She sat a moment, catching her breath. Elle and Alex strolled out, holding their sides, laughing. Kat didn’t care. She made it out and vowed never to return.